29 September 2009 11:47 AM

Don't boo the fans for being bored

The bosses at Vicarage Road are feeling very confused. After enormous investment, mass player upheaval and a furious publicity drive that took the side from Twickenham to Wembley in the opening weeks of the season, Saracens are sitting on top of the table, with four wins from four. So what's the problem?

Well, the fans aren't happy. Or, at least, a loud, booing chunk of them. Yesterday, Sarries chief executive Edward Griffiths felt compelled to address the 'astonishing' behaviour of his own club's fans on Sunday, after sections of the home crowd booed their side during the second half against Gloucester.

Despite the hard-fought 19-16 win, supporters jeered and slow hand-clapped towards the end of the game, obviously unimpressed by the lengthy spells of kicking at Vicarage Road.

'It was astonishing to hear a vocal minority of the crowd booing the team during the second half,' Griffiths said on the club's website. 'At a time when the side were trailing by two points, at a time when they were straining every muscle to seize the victory, the players surely deserved unequivocal support.'

Saracens have come in for criticism already this season over a perceived negativity in their style of play. Despite opening the season in front of huge crowds at Twickenham and Wembley ― in a bid to attract new fans to the North London club ― Brendan Venter's side are consistently putting pragmatism above entertainment on the pitch. And with a disappointing turnout of only 7,777 on Sunday, it seems that people have noticed.

Griffiths added: 'We can talk about game plans and debate tactics. We can argue the merits of kicking for territorial position or running from deep. We can discuss the laws of the game, and mull over the traits of winning teams in recent years. Make no mistake, everybody is entitled to their opinion.

'However, let's be clear ― we want to turn the tide and build a winning culture at Saracens. This is a mighty challenge, but it is a challenge we can certainly meet if, as a united club, we can stand together and back each other together.'

All very well Mr Griffiths, but the thing is you need to build a fan base, not buy one. Clever publicity ― and Saracens are doing a fantastic job on that front ― may well attract some curious individuals to pop down to Vicarage Road on a sunny Saturday afternoon, but only entertainment on the pitch will keep them coming back. And at the moment, Saracens are not that entertaining. Professional? Yes. Impressive? Yes. Difficult to beat? Definitely. But entertaining? Right now, a Robbie Williams concert is more appealing. At least he tries to entertain you.

Griffiths goes on to argue: 'When was the last time the Leicester Tigers were booed by any section of the crowd at Welford Road? Ever? When was the last time Manchester United were booed by even a small section of the crowd at Old Trafford? Ever. At a winning club with a winning mentality, the home supporters simply do not boo the players. Ever.'

Fine, but such loyalty is gained over time. The fan-club relationship takes time to develop, and with time comes trust. Eventually. If the new Saracens project seeks a bunch of new fans (with bulging wallets), then they're just going to have to accept that the new kids on the block are going to want their money's worth on the pitch. And if they don't like what they see, they'll tell you about it. Bored fans won't hang around forever.

The healthy truth is it's not only a results business.

If only Shakespeare was a rugby coach...

So John Kingston has admitted that the summer has taken some toll on his Harlequins squad after all. After Friday's 17-17 draw with Newcastle he said: 'The background with which we have come into this season has been unique and something nobody would ever wish on anybody.

'(The scandal) has been sitting around me about 30 per cent of my life, therefore I would have to say that could you question whether I could operate on 70 per cent of what I should be thinking about. So that is probably an accurate analogy of everyone at Harlequins.'

Putting aside the fact that it would take Carol Vorderman to explain quite what he means, his side are desperately trying to scrub the stain of bloodgate off their hands. The problem is they are still distracted by the weight of that scandal and all the baggage that came with it. In fact, right now Quins are the Lady Macbeth of the Guinness Premiership. If Kingston had the poetic ear of Shakespeare, he'd surely have said...

Out, damned spot! out, I say!―One: two: why,

then, 'tis time to do't.―Hell is murky!―Fie, my

lord, fie! ... What need we

fear who knows it, when none can call our power

to account?―Yet who would have thought the old

man to have had so much blood in him? Macbeth; V.i

...or something similar. No prizes for guessing which part Deano would get in that particular play...

Geech's booze-up was ultimate hangover cure

Meanwhile, in the Mail on Sunday's exclusive extracts from Ian McGeechan's autobiography, Geech revealed the old-fashioned way in which his Lions recovered from the heart-breaking second Test defeat this summer.

'We abandoned the policy of recovery with a bottle of water and a health drink and went back in time with a fair amount of alcohol. But we drank together, we stayed together, we slept it off and then we found that defeat was out of our systems.'

Further proof, if ever needed, that Geech knows rugby like nobody else ― because first and foremost he knows people. By dropping the strict post-match regime, he brought the side closer together when they could so easily have fallen apart. The result? One thumping victory a week later.

A few jars was the only training the squad needed after that defeat, but I bet only Geech would have led them to the bar.

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